Fate's messenger
by Oiseau-tempete
Summary: Merlin has a most strange meeting that will change the way he sees everything important to him...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note : Hello ! This is my very first story, so I hope you will enjoy it ! Plus I am French so still learning how to deal with English, so I'll manage to pay attention to my level. Please post some reviews ! :)**

-**Fate's messenger**-

_**a story by Oiseau-tempete and improved by Fantasiedreamar (thanks a lot !)**_

**Chapter one**

"Merlin!" Arthur called, rolling his eyes in desperation. "That's not my sword" the king complained throwing it down on the floor like a spoilt child. "It's not even a proper sword!"

"I'll fix that right away, _sire_" Merlin said bending down, picking up the blade from the ground where Arthur had thrown it.

Smirking, Merlin ran to the armoury where he would get a sword that was "proper" enough for his master.

"Ugh!" complained Merlin as he slid down the armoury wall; he couldn't find Arthur's sword anywhere. He had turned the armoury upside down and inside out; a hurricane would surely have done the same mess.

Not in its attributed place. Not among the knights' swords. Not in the storage.

Nowhere!

Merlin pulled a face. Where was it then?

"You should try behind the door."

Merlin jumped up at the sound of a soft, shrill voice. He looked around, pale blue eyes scanning every corner seeking the shape of a body for the voice.

"Over here" the voice spoke again in a teasing manner.

His eyes stopped at the left-high corner of the door's frame:

The voices host stepped out from the shadows; there, standing on top of the door was an extremely small creature, at first glance, anyone would of assumed it was a fair sized insect, but if one focused on its small body you could say it looked like those wooden statuettes on Gaius's shelf, representing the elves of the Forest of Dean.

But yet its more noticeable feature was its lunar clarity; the creature was literally shining, giving off a pale intense light.

With crafty smile on its face, the luminous little lutin burst out laughing. "Your- your eyes are out of their sockets!" the creature managed to gasp out over its fits of giggles

"Who are you? What are you doing here? What do you want from me?" Merlin shot, backing away from the little creature, unsure if it was a threat.

"Softly, Emrys." The lutin soothed "We've barely introduced ourselves" replied the small shiny one, which looked truly delighted at the astonishment of the young wizard.

"We are right now. Who are you? How do you know my true name?" Merlin asked confused

"Questions, questions" the lutin mumbled "aren't you a curious one!" holding out his miniature hand the little man introduced himself.

"The Druids and their prophets call me Leothan. I am a spirit of the High Mountains of Scafell, cousin of the elves of Dean and messenger of Fate itself."

Merlin's eyes widened in realisation and bowed. "I- I apologise greatly" Merlin stuttered.

"Don't be so afraid, Emrys, Great sorcerer, I only want to see your destiny fulfilled like many others"

Merlin stared at it with suspicion and curiosity. He felt deeply attracted by the powerful magic of the playful spirit, which hadn't yet answered a tenth of the questions now rushing in his head.

"How..." stammered the young man, but he didn't get to finish his sentence as he was interrupted by the energetic spirit:

"There is no time for us to talk now, Emrys. Your master is going to look for you." Leothan hopped over to a window, just as it was about to leave, he turned "I'll see you after dusk, once the Moon will be at its highest point in the sky."

It jumped with ease through the narrow window and disappeared. Merlin stood there, bewildered at the past events.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard a buzzing noise. There outside the window was the little spirit with a grin on his face "Don't forget, Emrys. Behind the door."

And with a great childlike laugh, it vanished into the morning's sky.

Still amazed by that most strange meeting, Merlin didn't pay attention to his King's shouts and monologues on him being an idiot, incapable of succeeding in any task he was asked for, useless and irretrievable.

The door opened loudly revealing a very annoyed Arthur. The king stepped in the armoury looking for his manservant. Closing the door with a slam trying to get his manservant's attention, as soon as the door connected with the frame, a metallic clattering sound could be heard below.

Looking down the King sighed loudly when he found his sword laying centimetres away from his boot. It must have been behind the door, against the wall. Arthur sighed at his strange friend's stupidity. Going further into the armoury he found Merlin standing there gaping, facing the window. Arthur approached Merlin carefully. "Ahem" Arthur coughed, startling Merlin out of his trance.

Swirling around Merlin was met with a sword pointing at his chest:

"You know, Merlin, just because you're and idiot it doesn't exempt you from using your eyes!"

"Prat" mumbled the servant, under his breath.

"Heard that!" the blonde king replied smacking Merlin playful on the head.

"Ow!" Merlin complained rubbing his head where Arthur hit him.

"Wuss"

"Clotpole"

And the two of them left the armoury, still exchanging insults.

"Dollophead"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Merlin jumped in surprise for the second time that day. It was becoming an unpleasant surprise. He closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"I thought you wouldn't come." Merlin said turning around "I thought I'd imagined you."

Merlin approached his bedroom window, from which a fresh wind was entering the room. On the sill was sitting the cunning and bright spirit, its legs in a knot and hands holding its feet.

"I said I would visit you when the Moon would be at its highest point, Emrys. Here I am." The creature said gesturing to all of himself.

It spread an unbelievable power of magic, Merlin could sense it, yet it was so tiny! He wondered how old it should be, considering that it was absolutely impossible to guess: wisdom and childlike behaviours inhabited the spirit creating perfect harmony.

"Do you know what the most beautiful thing in the sky is?"

The spirit turned its aesthete eyes to the round white shape that sat comfortably among the stars. The glowing white rock was known as a divinity for the whole magical kingdom, including all the different species made of magic, and Druids.

Merlin suddenly felt thankful for having Gaius as guardian, as the court physician Gaius made it his responsibility to drill those sorts of questions in Merlin's aching head.

"The Moon" Merlin replied without thinking. It stood up to look closer at Merlin's face, pensive eyes looking into Merlin's own.

"I see" said Leothan, smiling. "But please, tell me. Why the moon? Anyone else would say the stars!"

Merlin looked up to the sky, "It's constant. I guess. No matter how crazy my life gets protecting that royal idiot, I can always count on it being there, the same. It doesn't matter if its full or only half showing, it will always go back to its original shape. It's comforting to know that something stays the same even if life doesn't."

The miniature spirit, hands on hips, gave a knowing smile "A lot of destinies rest on your shoulders, a lot of hope too."

"So you know my true nature" began the boy. "You know my destiny too and I guess a lot more." Merlin said eyes narrowing slightly, wanting to get to the point "Why are you here?"

The smile faded. Merlin tensed.

"The prophets are concerned, Emrys. The battle is near. The Great Evil of the Priestess's magic grows in strength. You must be aware."

It stood, a pause in its speech as if thinking deeply, it seemed like it was making a hard choice.

"I must show you...not the end" the little man looked conflicted, "Emrys...but what will happen after what _you think_ would be the end."

Merlin felt absolutely confused, it wasn't making any sense! For once in his life would anyone give him a straight answer!? He was tired of the riddles that Kilgharrah gave him! Was it some secrete pact that all the magical creatures agreed on? "Let's annoy Merlin by making no sense at all!"

There were so many questions dancing around in his mind 'What was it all about?' 'What was the end in question?' And the most important one "Would the spirit only tell him what it was talking about?' without using riddles, Merlin added on.

"Yes, Emrys. The King's doom will not be yours."

_Oh. _

A cold sweat trickled down his neck, Merlin felt his blood beating madly in his head.

_There we were._

He stepped back. Searching for something to hold so he wouldn't slip out of reality, sweaty fingers brushed against a sword, cutting it. But Merlin didn't care, he couldn't even think. He considered the tiny form and tried to open his mouth to speak, then closed it. The manservant cleared his throat to regain composure, thinking what Arthur would do if he saw the "blabbering idiot" speechless. A small smile graced Merlin's pale face but was quickly wiped off when he remembered the spirit's message.

After what had seemed like an eternity, he slowly whispered:

"What do you mean?"

"Your destiny won't stop after Arthur's" explained the messenger with extreme seriousness. It will last long after the end of the Arthur you've known for all these years."

"But, I don't understand, the Dragon told me..." Merlin was confused. He didn't want this. Kilgharrah said that it was his destiny to protect Arthur. And that was a hard enough job to do by its self as the selfless bone idle toad just begged for trouble.

Truth be told, Merlin couldn't think about what he would do if Arthur died. It was sad to say but Arthur, except from Gaius and his mother, was the only person holding him together all these years, and if Arthur went then Merlin was sure he would turn crazy!

"Kilgharrah was right" interrupted Leothan. "But he only was talking in large terms...I can't tell you anything more now."

It suddenly turned back to face the sky and scrutinize it before saying:

"It almost is the time."

The sky was just beginning to clarify, the night was still held the whispering of its thousands voices and sounds, telling great prophecies of dragons, magic, justice...Friendship.

"Listen, Emrys. Listen carefully. There are some things you must see, things unimaginable for you, but yet necessary to help you understanding your burden, why you have been chosen, where you must strive to go by the choices you make. Don't be afraid." The little one looked into Merlin's worried eyes.

"There's one thing you must do, though."

"What is it?"

"Trust me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three**

Some fresh air entered the room, in an unearthly silence.

Merlin was standing, tensed, eyes set on the tiny silhouette. He was contemplating everything that he had heard so far, wondering about all that could possibly mean. He looked into the tiny eyes of the creature before him, searching for any sign of trickery, but all he could see was innocence and sincerity. Nothing felt made-up. It was solid and unfading truth standing impassively before him.

But yet it was trouble the boy was standing right now, as he knew the decision he was about to make would condition his whole destiny, and most of all, the destiny of the one he had the mission to protect.

Yes, the situation was unexpected, and to be honest, fairly weird. A Lutin had just come from nowhere, calling itself the messenger of Fate, wanting to show him how all he believed was untrue and now needing him to trust it as it wanted to take him to unknown places and times not even the greatest man will find, even if Merlin only knew it for few hours.

But even though his mind was turning upside down, there was a question that kept on popping up "what would possibly happen if he accepted?" Merlin hated the word "if." "If" meant crossroads and hard decisions. "If" meant regrets and worry. It was too much of a gamble when "if" was in a sentence. And Merlin hated gambles.

The spirit was looking at Merlin, in absolute confidence. Endless possibilities that unnerved Merlin was all his, if he just pronounced a word, if he just made a sign. Endless roads that led to an unknowing end.

Should he take the easy route, where the road was smooth and undented, the sun shining down through the trees, the wind blowing gently causing flowers and leaves to dance? Or should he take the harder route, where the road was made out of shards of rock, where you had to tread carefully to not get hurt. The trees blocked out the sunlight causing shadows to linger longer than they were wanted. Where the wind blew harshly as you tried to walk, pulling you back endless times again.

Merlin wasn't sure which one he was walking right now. The last one sounded like his current life, but maybe it was like heaven compared to what was next. Maybe if he let the spirit take him away he would face hardships and pain, all over again.

And was the choice even that simple? Maybe both roads were dark and dangerous…

Why should he trust it? After all, it could be one those incalculable traps made-up by Morgana, but yet there was something in the way the creature was looking at him, something in the way it was shining, that made him feel that he was in presence of a pure, divine form of magic.

The boy's pale blue eyes ran through the room's floor.

Anyway, he wanted to know. For years he had longed for explanations, he had been desperate to find the meaning of all that pain, of all that loneliness. As he had faced new challenges, gone through loss, he had repressed it, thinking of it as a selfish feeling. But the desire to know was deeply set up into his chest, painfully waiting for the day it would be satisfied.

He still wanted to know _why_ he had been chosen.

Merlin breathed all previous thoughts out of his head as he focused on that desire that he always shut up before. But no longer will it be anymore.

Merlin locked his gaze into Leothan's, making the answer clear. The spirit smiled and, just as the sun was rising over Camelot, before the boy even had the time to blink, the laugh of the bright imp echoed around the room like a thousand crystals bursting at the same time and the two magical beings vanished, leaving an empty bed, a book of magic and an opened window behind them.

To be continued ^^

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	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four**

The first thing Merlin saw as his eyes settled onto the new place was the sound of a little brook, a sound strangely familiar to him… The journey had been instant, and as Merlin knew instinctively, their bodies had for a brief moment returned to a light state, a state of ultimate consciousness and radiance, before reforming as physical matter.

Merlin turned his attention back to the brook; he turned to the left and saw the brook leading to the fountain where the people of his village were usually collecting their water.

"Ealdor! We're in Ealdor!" Merlin exclaimed.

"We are, Emrys, at the root of your existence, when and where everything begun."

The small creature was now showing a face where wisdom and calmness abounded.

"Don't talk to anyone but me, don't try to do anything else than follow me, and above all: don't use your magic, Emrys. Promise me."

"What!?" Merlin asked "Why would I do that? Why on earth should I trust you?" Merlin was outraged that he couldn't speak with people in his home village!

A question that kept on showing its ugly face appeared again 'Why did he accept to follow it in the first place?'

"You must trust me, Emrys. That is the only way to know your true destiny, to discover the meaning of your purpose, the only way to know _why_. There won't be another chance to do this ever again."

With a face fairly looking like the one of a child not allowed to play his favourite game, Merlin nodded, not accustomed to put all his confidence in a stranger, and most of all to accept not being able to access his powers even for a short amount of time.

The purity of this being was too evident now to ignore, and Merlin couldn't do anything other than follow it. After all, if this was a trap, he already was standing in the noose

"Very well, I promise."

The bright, bubbly spirit smiled before beckoning the warlock to follow it.

The small village immersed it's self into the night, but Merlin could see some details that had changed; there were less pigs and hens, some fences were damaged and one house showed some marks of a fire.

Something was wrong.

That was where his old house was …

"Mother!" Merlin cried desperately wanting to help. "What is happening? Is she dead?" He stammered, ready to run to the house to check it by himself.

The Lutin gave a soft laugh, despite the scene before them.

"No, Emrys. Hunith cannot be dead for the good reason that you aren't yet born. This is indeed your family's house, but some twenty years ago. Uther's men left some hours ago, they were searching after your father Balinor. They didn't find him."

"How did he escape?"

"Your mother had the idea, ingenious indeed, to set her house on fire to divert the knights. This was the only way to save her lover, and it worked. He is now running across the forest and will find his cavern tomorrow. Come, Emrys, follow me."

Glancing back at the burnt down house, the boy reluctantly followed, silently cursing the late king for destroying his family.

They walked for about an hour in the woods until they reached the edge of a lake. Merlin smiled as he remembered coming here with his friend Will as they were growing up.

Merlin's eyes wondered to the other side of the lake, and froze. There, on the other side of the lake was sitting Merlin's mother, younger than him, in front of an old oak.

"See, Emrys, this is when all took place!"

The tiny creature was very excited and joyful about it, and was amused by the young man's bewilderment.

"Your mother is pregnant with you, and as Balinor advised, is seeking advice from the spirits of the forest. Everyone was waiting for you, great Emrys, for thousands of years. Also everyone was ready to help your mother, to guide her on this much difficult task: raising the most powerful sorcerer to ever walk this earth. You were surrounded, Emrys, you always were from your first day there in Ealdor to the day you put a foot in Camelot, you were protected."

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	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five**

"Everything has its purpose and meaning, every single drop of rain falls at the exact place where it must fall. Everything is at its place in its time. This universe is immensely wise and tremendously complex. And you are part of this universe. You are one of the boundless expressions of the Spirit, no less important and mighty by your essence than any other form of this realm. And the mission that is yours, as you sense it, is to give birth to a great sorcerer, the most powerful sorcerer to ever live. The one who will free the magical realm.

The one who will be able to reunite Albion once again and bring peace to this land. We, spirits of the forests, will help you protect him, and as he grows older, dangers will come encounter him without fail. At the time of his leaving, he'll be strong enough to face anything on his way. Be confident, many beings watch over him, as many hopes hold on his shoulders. This is your destiny, and this is his. Watch over him."

"She knew all of it"

The night was clear, stars shone brightly illuminating the lake; the wind was singing through pine branches in the dark and mysterious forest. All was breathing as a whole. All seemed to be one.

Merlin's gaze was settled on the trees distorted reflection on the lake, where secret protectors of his childhood lay, watching.

It all made sense now. At first Merlin didn't get why his mother would send him to Camelot, the city that had banned magic, which had banned the very matter of his being, his very essence. But he knew in his quite foolish young head that his mother wouldn't have made this decision if there wasn't any reason to do so. And now he was having that reason right in front of his eyes. Everything that his mother had said to him was now taking a deeper meaning.

Of course, learning about his destiny had made things a lot more meaningful, but after having learnt about his mother's secret, he was feeling like he was in the middle of a great plan that only he was unaware of.

"You are about to discover a lot more, Emrys."

The spirit touched the lake with its foot, blurring the surface of the entire lake and forcing Merlin to wake up from his mind wandering.

"Are you willing to know more?" asked Leothan.

Merlin pursed his lips together. Even though it wasn't much of a decision.

"I think I do."

"Perfect! Let's not be late then!"

And once again they vanished, as the imp was gladly humming in the night, and Merlin beginning to appreciate the joyous company he had.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six**

« What the hell… »

Merlin was now standing about ten meters away of a child who, without any doubt possible, was himself. What a weird situation.

The child was approximately two years old but had lots of hair for his age; dark hair, the same as Merlin. He also had blue eyes and pale skin, he was playing on the grass with an insect and randomly making it fly in the air when it was going too far away from him, making it fall at times of distraction. He was laughing.

The old Merlin looked at the young Merlin and suddenly felt confused; it was usually an interesting job to watch some magical tricks that sometimes showed up, but this wasn't funny at all, it was so weird that it was beginning to be scary.

"This is the weirdest experience I had by far; watching myself", he mumbled, looking completely blown away.

The little lutin was sitting next to Merlin, in a crazy laugh crisis.

The old Merlin began:

"It's not funny! It's totally crazy! What are we doing here anyway?"

The joyous elf gathered himself together and considered the wizard:

"You used to be easier at joke, Emrys." The spirit turned his luminescent eyes to the baby, still having fun with the bit of magic he could control. "Wait, Emrys, let us give your small version a chance."

Also the two of them watched the baby and his insect, laughing and juggling with it. Merlin noticed something moving in the grass aside the baby, or one could say himself, whatever.

"Over here, said he. At the right, something's trying to climb…me"

Leothan calmly nodded.

The thing was very tiny and had a human-like form, it was now heading for the shoulder of the child, and started to speak in his ear.

Merlin questioned the spirit of his eye.

"This creature is a messenger, Emrys. It is not the first time you meet one of my kind. The messenger you see in front of you has for mission to give this baby an element of great importance about the prophecy of Albion. You don't remember it, do you Emrys?"

Merlin shook his head, disappointed: "No, I couldn't say I do."

"And you're not supposed to. There had been many other times when magical beings have been assisting you, Emrys. Sometimes you were conscious of it, some other times not. And it is perfect as it is. You see how surrounded you were?"

He had never been alone.

Suddenly Merlin returned to the baby: he was now making the messenger fly in front of him!

The imp started to laugh again.

"What a child!" said he between two giggles.

"Follow me, Emrys, we have seen enough of this one."

And with an I-smile-but-it-doesn't-mean-it's-funny kind of Merlin, the messenger vanished.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven**

« Come on! Do it! Why don't you do it if you say you _can_? »

The dark-haired little boy turned back to a child standing a few steps behind him, held tightly by two strong teenagers and scared to death.

"Do it! Are you as a wimp as you look?"

The little boy considered the question by looking at his feet. His face was showing different colours of shame, confusion and fear.

"Well, so you don't care about your friend then, so it won't bother you if we throw him into the lake?"

A huge expression of angst appeared on the two boys' faces ; the tall red-head teenager looked very satisfied by the effect of his words, his mouth twisted in a strange way**. **He knew he had the power.

"Alright, the deal's done"

He sighed and let the petrified one he had threatened behind him.

The three teenagers were now heading for the lake, carrying a panicked child, a hand preventing him to scream. All was happening very fastly.

The dark-haired boy shouted "Will! Will!", but he couldn't do anything, he was feeling powerless. Why did Will tell them? He was the only one he had told his secret to because he was the only one he felt like he could trust. He had make Will promess. And Will had broken his word. Why did he tell them?

He looked in every directions, seeking help, but there was none.

They were ten feet away from the lake, now. A shout managed to escape Will's mouth.

The dark-haired child put his hands on his eyes, shaking his head.

Merlin was crying.

"I don't know, I don't know how, I'm sorry…"

He couldn't do anything, he didn't know how...If only Will hadn't told them...

A powerful wave of anger and resentment ran through him. He removed his hands.

The three teenagers were lying on the ground, blue skin, petrified gaze… Passed away.

Will was running away from them, looking completely horrified, trembling.

"What…,he began while arriving in front of his friend.

-Why did you tell them? Merlin was furious. Why did you tell them my secret? It was a secret, you fool! You didn't have the right! And you betrayed me ! Mother made me promise to be careful about my powers, and it's so hard to do that, but you spoilt it!

-I'm sorry…But, Merlin…Look…

-I don't care!, he shouted, more angry than ever. He removed Will's little hand from his shoulder. You know why it's a secret ? Because it's forbidden! They will tell everybody…My mother's going to kill me, I tell you, by your fault!

-Merlin! I know, I'm sorry, but look!"

Will pointed his finger at the three dead bodies lying not far from them.

Merlin stared at them. He blinked several times in absolute confusion.

"…What happened?"

This was impossible, this couldn't have been him…He didn't know how to do that…He was only a boy and he just was really scared…

"_What have I done?_"

His friend stammered "We…We got to go to your mother's, come !"

Still shocked, the little dark-haired boy followed his friend in the forest.

Merlin'eyes followed his own tiny silhouette running out of the forest until turning back to Leothan which luminous face had was now slightly tensed.

"What a dreadful afternoon...Why did you show me that?, asked Merlin, an expression of curiosity on his face.

\- I wanted to show you from how far you come, Emrys. And how far you managed to go.

Don't you see that as a child you couldn't know when or how your magic was going to show up, that you were living at the mercy of your feelings and powers, that you didn't even know what _it _was? This experience made you start fearing your gift, but it also made you take conscience of how much power you held. This was the moment from which you knew that it was a huge gift and thus also a huge threat."

Merlin's gaze lost itself among the three bodies, until the voice of the elf took him out of his thoughts:

"A huge threat indeed, Emrys, but a beautiful power too, he said, malicious eyes sparkling. Let us look at it in a more grateful way."

And on these words, they disappeared.


End file.
